From Portland, Ore. — official planning model of the city of Charlotte — comes this tale of woe. The Oregonianreports:

A Portland police officer accidentally used pepper spray instead of a fire extinguisher on a man who lit himself on fire downtown near a fur store Wednesday. … When the officer went to get a fire extinguisher out of the trunk of her patrol car, she accidentally grabbed a large can of pepper spray used in riot control. … The officer, who has been on the job for fewer than 10 years, did not know she had used pepper spray until she got back to central precinct, [police] said. Another officer found the empty can later at the scene.

Yikes! I mean yikes. The man later died a local hospital.

7 Responses to “The New Definition of Having a Bad Day”

Jan292010At 7:54 am, bruce Said:

Well now we all know that pepper spray will put out a fire.. What a horrible way to die.

Yeah, Joe. I guess Portland does not expect full competency from its officers until they have been on the job for 20 years.

Jan292010At 9:28 am, clayj Said:

Could be worse. In the South Park movie, when Kenny sets himself on fire while lighting a fart, Cartman tries to put out the flames by repeatedly hitting Kenny with a stick. What works, eventually, is an entire dumptruck full of salt being dumped on him.

Jan292010At 12:12 pm, Tandemfusion Said:

Think about it: if this had been CMPD and a RoMo hire, we’d be told that the burning man was simultaneously attacking the officer, who used the pepper spray in self defense. RoMo’s people don’t make mistakes.

Jan292010At 7:22 pm, musicmax Said:

She EMPTIED the can and then LEFT both the man AND the can? I don’t think the man is the mentally ill one here.